Social media platforms as enablers of college students’ experiences of cyber abuse
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29329/jsomer.48Keywords:
social media, cyber abuse, lifestyle routine activities theory, college student victimization, counter abuse strategiesAbstract
College students’ cyber abuse experiences on social media platforms (SMPs) were investigated to disentangle the impact of various demographic factors on SMP experiences and perceptions in this specific population. This topic is important because of the potential social, emotional, and cognitive harm of cyber abuse to college students, particularly previously identified high-risk groups. Informed by Lifestyle Routine Activity Theory, 169 college students (ages 18-21 and 22-27 years) from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds completed online surveys assessing their definitions of cyber abuse; factors and content affecting those definitions; their judgments of the relative abusiveness of various online behaviors; personal characteristics and behaviors they believe predispose users to becoming targets; and perceived effective responses to cyber abuse. Cyber abuse was predominantly defined as online harassment, but also as criticizing, flaming, and criminal use. Demographic differences emerged for factors and content classified as cyber abuse; abusiveness ratings of different behaviors; characteristics and behaviors predisposing users to victimization; and rankings for strategies to thwart cyber abuse. Findings illustrate both similarities in users’ experiences and stark contrasts across demographic characteristics. This study demonstrated that the cyber abuse experiences of 18- to 21-year-olds and 22- to 27-year-olds, men and women, and White and Non-white are not homogeneous. Implications of these findings are discussed.
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